(by Kerry Patton)
“Go therefore
and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded
you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20
Years ago, there was a television commercial for Coty
perfume that suggested: “If you want to
capture someone’s attention, whisper.”
Another commercial, this one for laundry detergent, suggested that to
get out a tough stain, you needed to: “Shout
it out!” And finally, a popular cell
phone company commercial sought to illustrate their effective coverage area by
showing a technician walking all around the country with a phone to his head
asking over and over: “Can you hear me now? Good.”
Whispering, shouting, and speaking normally, the church
cries out to a lost and dying world: “Can you hear me now?” Our calling is to
communicate the love of our Lord Jesus.
But how? Quite simply, we speak. Well, most all of us do. I suggest and perhaps you will agree that all
of us speak in some form or another not only by the words we use, but our
actions, our attitudes, and perhaps sometimes even by what we don’t say, and
don’t do. We speak.
An oft referenced, (if misattributed to Francis of Assisi)
quote is: “Preach the Gospel, and if
necessary, use words.” I confess
that I both really like, AND really dislike this quote. Here is why: In its essence the statement is
true. Whether we are professional clergy
or laity, the charge is ours…all of ours…to communicate the saving Gospel of
our Lord Jesus. And to do so, through
every proper means we can, to the best of our ability, every day that we are
alive.
The statement fails in one important sense however in
placing too much emphasis on proclamation through actions, rather than
words. For while the spirit of the
Gospel can and must be communicated through the actions of our daily living,
the basic information of the Gospel…and most specifically, the crucifixion,
death, and resurrection of the Son of God as the only sufficient payment for
the sins of humanity, MUST be communicated in some means; effective enough to
relay the essential elements of the faith which would lead an individual into a
personal saving relationship with Jesus, and thereafter, into an active life of
Christian discipleship and evangelism.
To this task, mere actions alone are insufficient.
Yes, the Gospel is to be lived…yes, and amen! But it MUST be
proclaimed. Says Duane Liftin, president emeritus of Wheaton College: “It's
simply impossible to preach the Gospel without words. The Gospel is inherently
verbal, and preaching the Gospel is inherently verbal behavior.”* Liftin’s words
echo the message of Paul’s letter to the Romans chapter 10, verse 14 which reads:
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not
believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will
they hear without a preacher?”
How indeed?
We, you and I, are in this world to be that preacher.
*[http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2012/may/litfin-gospel-deeds.html?paging=off]
Over the next few days, I will be exploring the task of
communicating the Gospel, not in the elements of the Gospel itself…but in our
own presentation of it. Asking a simple
question: “Through our words and actions, how loud should we speak?” For we whisper, we speak
normally, and we shout the Gospel. And
we do so, because Jesus did. Stay tuned
to see how it unfolds!
Prayer
Almighty God, We
groan and we complain about how the world has forgotten you. We are offended at how it ignores your
holiness, and perpetuates sin. We cling to your Gospel, lay claim to the blood
of Jesus for salvation, and rely upon your Word and the Holy Spirit to guide
us. And we know that You are the only
hope the world has. They have no help
but you. We realize that they will not
come to know you…unless we tell them about you, and show them your love. To this end, O God, we need to be prepared;
we need to be always at the ready to show them your light and love. Help us, Father. Help us, and empower us to proclaim the
Gospel. To the honor and glory of thy
name, I pray, Amen.
